Video: Lending A Hand To Fellow Tornado Victims.

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — On December 23 an EF-3 tornado ripped through the city of Columbia, Mississippi, leaving a trail of destruction.

The loss. The devastation. That’s a feeling families in Louisville remember all too well.

That’s why, when one group stepped up to help their neighbors in Columbia, no one was surprised.

“They came and helped when we got hit and now were going to help them,” recalls Trey McCullen, an Eiland Middle School student.

The devastation a tornado can bring, is an all too familiar subject for the students of Eiland middle school, located in the heart of Louisville.

But through hardships, comes strength.

McCullen goes on to say, “I want them to know, it gets better. It starts out bad but it will get better eventually.”

At the break of dawn, Mrs. Rogers class will load onto a bus to head down to Columbia, Mississippi. Her Gifted students choose one organization each year to “pay it forward”. When the students heard that other children were suffering in ways they had experienced before, the choice became simple.

Mrs. Rogers says, ” sometimes you have to teach students who have a gifted ruling that what they do affects you and what you do affects them.”

In previous years, her class would raise 500 dollars for the organization of their choice, but this years class has raised the bar when it comes to fundraising.

“Some of them reached out of their pocket and would say instead of me buying a slushie today at lunch instead of me buying a snack, here’s my dollar. I’ll give you my dollar,” says as she recalls the students being more than willing to donate.

With the generosity of fellow students, as well as parents, friends, and local churches. Accompanying the students will be a check of nearly $2,000.

But they know money will only go so far.

Mrs. Rogers goes on to say, “They wanted to go clean yards. They wanted to get rid of the debris. They wanted to help somebody try to put their house back together or salvage some things.”

Many of the students can relate to the comfort this brings and the joy that comes with helping others.

Erin Rivers says, “n school or not, I choose to help people because it makes me feel happy and instead of doing things for yourself, you can do it for others.”

 

Categories: Local News

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